By Our Reporter
The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research on Wednesday unveiled SARS-Cov-2 Isothermal molecular Assay, a molecular test to detect the virus causing COVID-19 to the Senate Committee on Health.
The Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Prof. Babatunde Lawal Salako who spoke during the briefing said a molecular test for COVID-19 being develped by his institute can give test results in less than 40 minutes.
He said, “Importantly, low-skilled personnel can be trained to perform this assaay in tertiary cadre of health facilities.
He said in June, 2020 the Fate Philanthropy Coalition against COVID (FPCC) awarded NIMR a grant to support the ‘in-house Design and Development of point-of-care isothermal real-time test detecting SAR-Co V -2 “
According to him, the novel coronavirus named SAR-Co V -2 has become a pandemic.
“A key element in containing its spread is to identify people infected. However, testing centres are limited and mostly available in urban areas. Lack of diagnosis or misdiagnosis leads to missed infections that could fuel the spread of the virus.”
He said “the impact of this innovation is a fast and sensitive point-of-care test for SARS-CoV-2 using molecular technique, the most reliable and not just antibodies/antigen testing.
“Coupled with the RNA extraction, system we can achieve same throughput, with 32 tests in one hour.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe however said private organisations should be involved in the production of testing kits.
